Great blog, lots of tips. Here's another: Nobody has mentioned that when barbecuing steak, other than inserting a thin temperature probe into the side (if you really must), NEVER stab the meat with a fork or other sharp object, or you will lose juices. Only use tongs for turning.

Top quality beef should only ever require coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper. Why try and change the flavour of finest beef?

Salt is used for drawing moisture out of raw meat and vegetables, e.g. when making biltong or jerky, and pickles. For that reason, I prefer to add it fairly liberally when cooking, not before. (You can scrape off any excess with the tongs, if you need to.)

Searing definitely does seal in the juices (if you don't stab the meat with a fork!), and turning only once is best. However, this does require a bit of skill to ensure the correct cooking time. The suggestion to cook until juices start to appear on the top side, then turn and repeat, works very well.

If the steak is of lower quality, rub a bit of vinegar and dry mustard powder into it, and stand for half an hour. I always use vinegar for other cuts of beef as well, i.e. roasts, sausages (South African boerewors) or cubed stewing steak. It enhances flavour, tenderises, and removes any 'off' taste from meat that's been standing around too long. The mustard is also an excellent beef flavour enhancer. If the steak really isn't great, you can add a bit of soy sauce, beef flavour enhancer (e.g. Maggi seasoning or Oxo liquid) and oil, when rubbing.

To those who fry the steak in a pan, make sure the pan is very hot and do not put too much meat in at one time - a single steak is best. Otherwise, moisture is sucked out of the meat and it starts to boil instead of fry, and it will not get a crust. Disaster! That could explain some of the mishaps described.
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Your webpage says that the Portherhouse steak is less tender than the T-Bone steak; this is an incorrect statement. In actuality the T-Bone Steak is more tender because it is found on the rib side of the short loin, which means that it is closer to the middle of the animal. The closer the portioned cut of meat is to the center of the animal the more tender it is.

This is an awesome recipe and here's a little twist. REALLY SIMPLE BUT AMAZING!

In addition to the mushrooms add some bacon and once its browned remove some of the fat, add a thin layer of Jack Daniels and ignite. Then add the broth and simmer for a bit. Then pour that over your grilled steak and you will freak out on how good it is! My husband got tears the first time I made it!

Great blog, lots of tips. Here's another: Nobody has mentioned that when barbecuing steak, other than inserting a thin temperature probe into the side (if you really must), NEVER stab the meat with a fork or other sharp object, or you will lose juices. Only use tongs for turning.

Top quality beef should only ever require coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper. Why try and change the flavour of finest beef?

Salt is used for drawing moisture out of raw meat and vegetables, e.g. when making biltong or jerky, and pickles. For that reason, I prefer to add it fairly liberally when cooking, not before. (You can scrape off any excess with the tongs, if you need to.)

Searing definitely does seal in the juices (if you don't stab the meat with a fork!), and turning only once is best. However, this does require a bit of skill to ensure the correct cooking time. The suggestion to cook until juices start to appear on the top side, then turn and repeat, works very well.

If the steak is of lower quality, rub a bit of vinegar and dry mustard powder into it, and stand for half an hour. I always use vinegar for other cuts of beef as well, i.e. roasts, sausages (South African boerewors) or cubed stewing steak. It enhances flavour, tenderises, and removes any 'off' taste from meat that's been standing around too long. The mustard is also an excellent beef flavour enhancer. If the steak really isn't great, you can add a bit of soy sauce, beef flavour enhancer (e.g. Maggi seasoning or Oxo liquid) and oil, when rubbing.

To those who fry the steak in a pan, make sure the pan is very hot and do not put too much meat in at one time - a single steak is best. Otherwise, moisture is sucked out of the meat and it starts to boil instead of fry, and it will not get a crust. Disaster! That could explain some of the mishaps described.
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Also, if you have to use a temperature probe cooking a steak, you should probably go back to counting beans.

I love the step by step instructions on this post! I'm not a master at the grill and somethings things will go awry - not fun with expensive cuts of meat!

However - I am completely repulsed by 'shrooms so I'm a bit turned off by that part. But in reading the comments I saw Misty's post above about the bacon. I think I'm going to try this WITH the bacon, but withOUT the mushrooms. Now that sounds like a grilling match made in heaven!

I realize this is an old post, but just discovered the site and see some amazing recipes to try. Wanted to add my two cents.